Charity Navigator Study: U.S. Cities With Top Charities (SLIDESHOW)

We've all seen the endless studies on city rankings, indexing everything from the quality of life to best bikini bodies!

Charity Navigator released what may be the most important study yet -- the cities with the most potential to do good.

The charity watchdog and ranking system released a report revealing the cities with the highest-performing charities.

Picking the 30 largest metropolitan markets in the U.S., the group graded each city's nonprofits' overall performance based on several indicators -- from program and administrative expenses to accessibility to audited financial statements, and total contributions to CEO compensation.

The list, whose cities house 55 percent of the 5,500 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator as of May 1, 2012, included metropolitan markets both large and small: The biggest city in the study included 594 charities, while the smallest had 31 charities, according to the press release.

Check out the 10 cities with the highest-performing charities below.

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The Best Cities for Nonprofits

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Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 10 was Chicago, with a score of 55.74 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 9 was Colorado Springs, with a score of 55.94 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked No. 8 was Boston, with a score of 55.97 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 7 was San Francisco, with a score of 56.43 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 6 were the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, with a score of 56.45 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 5 was Portland, with a score of 57.17 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 4 was Cincinnati, with a score of 57.25 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 3 was St. Louis, with a score of 58.16 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked at No. 2 was Kansas City, with a score of 58.35 out of 100.

Charities in these 30 cities were ranked by Charity Navigator for their overall performance on a number of different scales, including program expenses, donor privacy, and total expenses.
Ranked in the No. 1 spot was Houston, with a score of 58.52 out of 100.